Hoof-pad.



T. GONROY.

HOOIl PAD.

APPLIOATION FILED 00T. 18, 1912.

* 1,057,222. Patented MarJZ, 191-3 THOMAS CONROY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

I-IOOF-PAD.v

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mai'. 25, 1913.

Application filed October 18, 1912. Serial No. 726,536.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS Connor, a citizenof the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvement-sin Hoof-Pads, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to that form of hoof pad which is providedwit-h a relatively thin portion intended to seat between the horse shoeand the hoof, and which is provided with a cross piece or heel in therear portion which heel is intended to eX- to so construct the hoof padthat all ofthat tend down into immediate contact with the pavement.

More particularly the invention relates to a pad of the above class inwhich use is made of a reinforcing plate or bar.

A number of pads of the above described class have been devised but, asa rule, no provision has been made for improving the grip between thedownwardly7 extending heel portion and the pavement. So that thegripping efficiency or traction has depended almost wholly upon theability of the rubber or other yielding material of the pad to grip thepavement. yI am familiar with certain forms of pad in which metal prongshave been provided, the intention being in such cases that these prongs,by extending through to the lower surface of the pad material, shalldirectly engage the pavement. However, in all such pads with which I amfamiliar these prongs have been formed and supported entirely separatefrom the reinforcing plate itself, so that the weight or force exertedupon them has had to be transmitted from the horses hoof through therubber or other yielding material of the pad to the prongs. For thisreason these prongs, as heretofore used, have not been very effectivefor gripping purposes.

One of the main objects of the present inventio-n is to directly connector associate a row or set of teeth with the reinforcing plate so thatthe forces will be directly transmitted from said plate to the teeth,which latter will not be dependent for their effectiveness upon theyielding material of the body of the pad.

One of the main objections Lto all previous forms of hoof pads withwhich I am familiar has been the fact that the pressure from the horseshoof has not been distributed in a proper manner and on the proper'portions of the surface of the hoof. The horny or bony matter of thehoof lies in the formI of a crescent, of which the ends are at ther-earof the hoof, the width of such matter varying but, as a rule, notexceeding more .than about a half an inch. Extending forward from therear ends of `this crescent-shaped portion are two mem` `bers which jointogether at approximately the middle of the hoof and constitute what isknown as the'frog.l Above this frog lies the navicular bone.

Another object of the present invention is portion immediately beneathand adjacent to the frog shall be clear and unobstructed, therebylremoving all possibility of exerting a pressure on the frog.Nevertheless the present hoof pad is so constructed that the reinforcingplate shall be rmly gripped andV caused to transmit a suitable portionof the load directly to the pavement, so as not to impair the grippingeffectiveness of the teeth.

Another object of the present invention is to so shape the reinforcingplate that the `same can be made from a minimum of material without inany way detracting from its eectiveness to accomplish the abovevmentioned results, thus reducing the weight o-f the pad.

Other object-s and uses will appear from a detailed description of theinvention, which consists in the features of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawing-Figure l shows a bottom plan view of thecompleted pad with reinforcing plate shown in dotted lines; F ig. 2 is asection taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. l, looking in the direction ofthe arrows; Fig. 3 is a back view ofthe complete pad showing thereinforcing plate and teeth by means of dotted lines; Fig. 4 is a backview of the reinforcing plate removed from the pad; and Fig. 5 is asection taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4, looking in i the direction ofthe' arrows.

In the several figures the main portion 6 of the pad is of relativelythin material, preferably having its upper surface faced with a layer ofcanvas or the like, 7

The main port-ion of the pad follows in shape the genera-l outline ofthe horses hoof. At its rear portion the pad is provided with adownwardly projecting heel member 8,

which extends entirely across the pad and has its forward edges 9 soplaced as to lie immediately behind the ends of the horse shoe. Thedepth of this heel is such that its lower surface 10 will come firmlyinto contact with the pavement when the horse shoe is in place. A pairof reinforcing webs 11 extend forwardly from the heel to the thin orbody portion and serve to reinforce the connection between the parts.

A reinforcing member or plate 12 is completely embedded in the materialof the pad. It has its central portion 13 arched downwardly while itsside portions are flat and are extended forwardly to provide the arms 14and 15. These arms project a suiiicient distance int-o the thin or bodyportion of the pad to be firmly gripped between the hoof and the rearends of t-he horse shoe when the horse stands on the hoof in question. Arow of separated teeth 16 is formed across the reinforcing plate, saidteeth extending down to the lower' surface of the heel, so that when thehorse exert-s a pressure on the hoof a suitable portion of the load willbe transmitted directly through the teeth to the pavement.

The side portions of the reinforcing` plate are substantially flat fromthe forward edges of the arms 14 and 15 to the rear edge 17 of theplate. The plate is preferably embedded in the material of the pad, withits upper surface immediately adjacent the upper surface of saidmaterial. The canvas layer is then placed over the upper surface of theplate, so that the latter will lie immediately beneath said layer.v Onaccount of the fact that the side portions of the plate aresubstantially flat from front to rear, it follows that when the pad andhorse shoe are secured to the hoof the downward pressure from t-he rearportion of the crescentshaped, bony member of the hoof will betransmitted directly to the sides of the reinforcing plate along a lineon each side of the hoof from the front of the corresponding arm to therear edge 17 of the plate. In thisway a very considerable port-ion ofthe total load on the hoof will be passed di-y rectly to the plate, sothat a large pressure will be exerted on the teeth 16 for grippingpurposes. Nevertheless, by arching the central portion of the platedownwardly, as shown particularly in Figs. 3 and 4, so that a concavespace or section 18 will be provided in the rear and central port-ion ofthe pad, none of the pressure will be exerted on the frog of the hoof,so that all danger of thus injuring the hoof will be eliminated.

For the purpose of securing a firm union or connection between allportions of the materia] from which the pad is made, I prefer tocompletely separate the teeth as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and to provideperforations in the arms 14 and 15 and a perforation in the archedportion 13, as shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 5. By constructing thepad in this manner all portions of it will be firmly joined togetherduring the vulcanizing process, with the result that the quality of theproduct will be greatly improved.

lVliile I have shown a pad in which the depression 18 extends forwardlysubstantially to the middle of the pad and across from the arm 1i to thearm 15, still it is evident that any other shape or size of depressionmight be adopted according to the requirements, it being desired,however, that the depression in each case should be such as to removethe possibility of exerting any pressure upon the frog of the hoof, andthat the upper faces of the sides of the plate should be caused toreceive a downward pressure from the greatest possible portion of thecrescent-shaped, bony matter of the hoof.

I wish particularly to point out the fact that by means of the hereindescribed construction I have accomplished the two results of firmlygripping the reinforcing plate and causing same to transmit a desiredpercentage of the load directly through the teeth to the pavement, andthat at the same time I have removed all possibility of creating apressure on the frog of the horses S5 hoof. These results followdirectly from the provision of the depression 13 in the reinforcingplate in combination with the provision of t-he fiat portions at thesides of the said depression. These fiat portions are of suiiicientlengt-h and area to su l)port a considerable length of the rear end ofeach side of the crescent-shaped, bony matter of the horses hoof, sothat a very considerable percent-age of the tot-al weight on the hoof105 is carried by the reinforcing plate. Nevertheless the yieldingsubstance of the heel proper will carry such a percentage of the load asto bring it effectivelyinto play.

I claim:

1. In a hoof pad, the combination of a relatively thin body portion, adownwardly extending heel across the rear end of the same, a reinforcingplate completely embedded in the material of the heel and of 115 thebody portion and having a row of downwardly extending teeth adapted tocome directly in contact with the pavement, the central part of saidreinforcing plate being depressed with respect to the upper sur- 120face of the body portion to provide a depression beneath the frog of ahorses hoof and the sides of the reinforcing plate being substantiallyflat and of equal elevation with the body portion for the purpose of 125directly sustaining the rear ends of the sides of the hoof whereby aportion of the load on the hoof is transmitted directly through theteeth of the reinforcing plate to the pavement. 130

2. In a hoof pad, the combination of a l body portion of relatively thinmaterial, 'a downwardly extending heel across the rear end of the same,and a reinforcing plate completely embedded in the heel and in the bodyportion, said plat-e having its central part depressed with respect tothe body portion to provide a depression beneath the frog of the horseshoof and the sides of said plate being substantially flat and of equalelevation with the body portion to directly sustain a portion of theload on the rear ends of the sides of the hoof, and the side portions ofthe plate extending forwardly with respect to the heel to occupypositions between the hoof and the rear ends of the horse shoe wherebysaid forwardly extending portions arel gripped between the horse shoeand the hoof and a plurality of teeth secured to said plate andextending downwardly in the heel to directly contact the pavement,substantially as described.

3. In a hoof pad, the combination of a relatively thin body portion, adownwardly extending heel across the rear end of the same, a reinforcingplate embedded in the material of the heel and of the body portion andhaving a row of downwardly extending teeth adapted to come directly intocontact with the pavement, the central part of said reinforcing platebeing depressed with respect to the upper surface of the body portion toprovide a depression beneath the frog of a horses hoof, said depressionextending rearwardly from the center of the pad to the rear edgethereof, and the sides of the reinforcing plate being substantially flatand of equal elevation with the body portion for the purpose of directlysustaining the rear ends of the sides of the hoof, whereby a portion ofthe load on the hoof is transmitted directly through the teeth of thereinforcing plate to the pavement, substantially as described.

4. In a hoof pad, the combination of a relatively thin body portion, adownwardly extending heel across the rear end of the same, a reinforcingplate embedded in the material of the heel and of the body portion andhaving a downwardly extending member adapted to come directly intoContact with the pavement, the central part of the reinforcing platebeing depressed with respect to the upper surface of the body portion toprovide a depression beneath the frog of a horses hoof, said depressionextending rearwardly from the center of the pad to the rear edgethereof, and the sides of the reinforcing plate being substantially flatand of equal elevation with the body portion for the purpose of directlysustaining the rear ends of the sides of the hoof, whereby a portion ofthe load on the hoof is transmitted directly through the downwardlyext-ending member of the reinforcing plate to the pavement,substantially as described.

THOMAS CONROY.

Witnesses:

THOMAS A. BANNING, Jr., WM. P. BOND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of '.Patents,

Washington, D. C. f

